Future Planning

Issue summary

What will Waban and Newton look like 5, 10, 25, 50 years into the future? Please join us as we enter the next chapter in our future planning. Learning from previous meetings, we've made some changes that will lead to productive results:

In 2017, a series of online surveys were sent to the WAC email list April/May 2017. The results are in the PDF in the archives on this page. Summaries are currently being developed.

In 2016, we combined with our sister village in Ward 5, the Highlands, and Srdjan Nedeljkovic (pronounced "Serge"), president of the Highlands Area Council and one of the authors of the Comprehensive Plan, joined us for sessions.

In 2015, we held village meetings to explore topics and develop priorities. A series of expert speakers addressed the group and participated in creating next steps.

In 2014, we had our first meeting and brainstormed topics - see below.

If you have any questions please send email to cpitts@newtonma.gov To be notified, please sign up for the WAC alerts at the home page. NHNAC Approval 1/7, WAC Approval 1/14

Included in the archive are various documents generated withing the last few years that are worth looking over to see what has been examined before. We invite everyone to forward any materials that would be of interest to this issue.

Issue full description

Timeline:

January 2016: Organizational Meeting

February 2016: Village Centers and Commercial Zones

POSTPONED March 29, 2016: Residential Neighborhoods

Monday April 25 2016: Residential Neighborhoods

Fall 2016: Decision to create Village Surveys

Winter 2016: WAC review of surveys

May/June 2017 : Online surveys and review period

Current conditions of each Village

Inventory of places

Land Use, Density, and Zoning

Transportation: Rails, roads, buses

Open Space, Recreation, other Public Spaces

Goals and objectives

What is the Newton that we want?

Defining place excellence

Broadly applied or village centered

In our village centers? In our residential neighborhoods?

Mixed use zones

Residential neighborhoods

Transition zones

Renovation or replacement?

Zoning code: what can and can’t be built

The issue of large houses on small lots

Multifamily housing

​Transportation, our streets, parking, transit, and sidewalks

Improving our mobility for cars

Improving our transit

Improving our school transportation system

Improving our mobility for bicyclists

Improving our mobility for pedestrians

Complete streets and context-sensitive design

Landscapes and open spaces

Do we want to preserve our open spaces

Cold Spring Park

Crystal Lake

Needham Street corridor

Can we increase opportunities for housing, work, and recreation?

How much growth is good growth?

Where do we want new growth and density?

What kind of growth: commercial, residential, or both?

Planning for a Better Newton - 2016 (A project of the NHNAC and the WAC)

Intended outcome:

We intend to develop a set of documents to reflect the diversity of views of our residents and business owners on “Planning for a Better Newton”

Following the example of Boston, Newton/Waban should have a survey of potential solar placements and create a community investment pool/trust which would allow for community wide cost savings and power homes that are not candidates for solar panels. This action could also cut down or eliminate brown outs. Examples include installing parking ports to generate solar power installed in various locations including the MBTA stop, behind the market, the schools, the hospital. Robert Garrity, Newton's former Director of Sustainability says the RFP for a citywide survey will go out in 2015 and the assessment of municipal buildings has been completed. Demand for sustainable implementation as part of the city's plan must be lobbied for by citizens as the initiative is not being driven by the current administration. Ideally, schools would be demonstrating energy production, savings, and usage with computer dashboards showing panel production, classroom and building consumption, etc.

Current figures show amortization of full cost in 5 years. Finance costs of panels and installation either through local bank e.g. Village Bank or be referred by manufacturer of panels to another financing source. In 2014 Sunpower, a US-based manufacturer enabled financing of 2.99% fixed rate for at least one Waban home installation. http://us.sunpower.com/home-solar/save-with-solar-panels/

If your home is not a good candidate for panels, take advantage of community shared solar (CCS) which for Waban participants can guarantee a 5% savings on the electricity rate the electric utility charges residential customers. Grants from the US Department of Energy support growth of CSS. http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy12osti/54570.pdf Angier and Zervas will be receiving Solar panels but Zervas has much more favorable geographic characteristics.

For Electric Cars: List of available autos http://www.plugincars.com/cars Currently the cost of charging an electric vehicle at home is minimal when electricity is produced from a rooftop solar array. This is because the electric utility will apply delivery charges if electricity to charge EV is drawn from utility grid. New EV batteries enabling larger storage are under development and will allow home electrical power to be drawn from battery for use in home. More content to come. Boston College is currently conducting a survey to understand user needs for expanding electric vehicle usage in Newton and to identify potential locations for public charging stations. The survey consists of multiple choice and open-ended questions that ask about your driving habits and vehicle usage. It should take you approximately 15 minutes to complete. Click here to take the survey.

To come: section on insulation, windows, etc

Hydro power from the Charles is currently not seen as viable.

Geothermal energy could be utilized efficiently for larger buildings such as the hospital and schools. Cambridge NETZero initiative being examined.

- Angier opted not to do geothermal as it would require digging into the playground which was a pauper burial ground and would caused incalculable delays while archaeological and forensic specialists identified remains and arranged for reburial.

As climate change occurs, flooding presently experienced by residents will get worse without serious mitigation. Smarter to prepare than react. Ideas that would fall under preparation category:support the staging and maintenance of emergency equipment such as sand bags, generators, etc. and educate residents as to location. Explore reasons for flooding and whether actions such as riverbank reinforcement might lessen the lateral flooding in neighborhood, if so, lobby for funding.Respond to observation that silt has built up in the river over time and exacerbates threat, look for opportunities for funding study.

Community Investment Group: Invest in Solar panels for parking lots and other public and private areas to increase community self reliance.

Streets, Parking & Traffic

GOALS: Create the safest possible environment for pedestrians, bikes, and drivers. Walkability - accessibility for all people ALL AGES for all seasons. Keep parking available in Waban Center.

All city planning including schools, etc should be prioritized with parity of pedestrian, cyclist, and driver safety. This ensures design and implementation to encourage walking, slow traffic, and reduce danger to all.

We had a discussion about parking demand pricing as a way to keep parking available by harnessing the market, particularly if some of the additional cash could be used to create the safety amenities we were most concerned about. Moving parking from Beacon/Angier will be required. Currently there are 3 parking revenue options:

Parking meters that prove to be the most cash generating

Zones with spaces where drivers can pay with cell phone apps according to signage, generates less money than meters but still positive

Zones with Sticker Fees which operate in the negative, costing the City for their administration.

Police enforcement - altering shift change times so does not coincide with school exit times

Housing

GOALS: Preserving important homes and landmarks, allowing for economic diversity, preserving key features of Waban, identifying best method and placement for future growth. Preserve single family homes. Create and/or make available affordable housing.

HOW:

Community Investment Group/Land Trust: Purchase of Waban Landmarks to preserve and control future. Potential to purchase and make available properties, preserving assets

Recognizing existing stock and identify unique styles through survey and research

Preserving existing homes - what can be done? identifying threats and solutions

Historic Landmarking: criteria for the National Register of Historic Places and Reading the Land/Massachusetts Heritage Landscapes Criteria can be: places associated with … the broad patterns of our history, places that generate a strong positive reaction from the community for reasons of the heart

Influencing the Newton Consolidated Plan [1] and Zoning Code [2] to ensure that funding and policies are available to implement these priorities

Affordable Housing - for low income, middle income, and fixed income retirees. Extremely complex but perhaps the most important question to current Wabanites. How do people who have invested much of their time - "planted roots" - handle the economic pressures of rising taxes and overrides, the increasing high cost of living, and stay in Waban? Is it possible? Is there a path to downsizing? Do seniors want to move? Is there a spreadsheet calculation that will show how much money is required? VanguardDinky Town What actions can be taken now to help evolve viable solutions?